BRIDGE CRANE ARRANGEMENT

AGENCEMENT DE PONT ROULANT

English Abstract

A bridge crane arrangement includes at least one main girder having a
central web and a bottom flange; end girders supporting opposite ends of the
main
girder; a slide arranged between an end girder and the main girder, the slide
allow-
ing the movement of the end girder in relation to the main girder in at least
its lon-
gitudinal direction and the rotation of the end girder and the main girder in
relation
to each other; and a restrictor to restrict the movements between the end
girder
and the main girder. On the top surface of the end girder, there is arranged a
sup-
port platform wider than the bottom flange, the slide includes a slide surface
ar-
ranged on the top surface of the support platform and/or the bottom surface of
the
bottom flange, and the restrictor is arranged to the support platform on both
sides
of the bottom flange.

French Abstract

Une configuration de grue à pont roulant comprend au moins une poutre principale ayant une toile centrale et une bride inférieure, des poutres d'extrémité supportant des extrémités opposées de la poutre centrale, une glissière placée entre une poutre d'extrémité et la poutre principale, la glissière permettant le mouvement de la poutre d'extrémité par rapport à la poutre principale au moins dans le sens longitudinal et la rotation de la poutre d'extrémité et de la poutre principale l'une par rapport à l'autre, et un restricteur pour restreindre les mouvements entre les deux. Sur la surface supérieure de la poutre d'extrémité est placée une plateforme de support plus large que la bride inférieure, la glissière comprend une surface de glissière sur la surface supérieure de la plateforme de support et/ou sur la surface inférieure de la bride inférieure, et le restricteur est configuré de manière à soutenir la plateforme sur les deux côtés de la bride inférieure.

Claims

6
Claims
1. A bridge crane arrangement comprising
- at least one main girder for a trolley, the main girder having a longitu-
dinal central web which has at least one web plate, and a longitudinal bottom
flange
arranged in the bottom part of the central web and protruding from the central
web onto both sides thereof;
- end girders which are adapted to support opposite ends of the main
girder;
- wheels which are arranged to the end girders and intended to move
the crane arrangement along substantially parallel guides which are transverse
in
relation to the main girder and thus to support the entire crane arrangement;
- slide means arranged between an end girder on at least one side and
the corresponding end of the main girder, , the slide means allowing the
movement
of the end girder in question in relation to the main girder in at least its
longitudi-
nal direction and the rotation of the end girder in question and main girder
in rela-
tion to each other; and
- restricting means to restrict the movements between the end girder in
question on one side and the main girder,
whereinthere is arranged, on the top surface of the end girder in ques-
tion, a support platform wider than the bottom flange, in that the slide means
com-
prise a slide surface arranged on the top surface of the support platform
and/or the
bottom surface of the bottom flange of the main girder, and in that the
restricting
means are arranged to the support platform on both sides of the bottom flange
of
the main girder, outside the main girder.
2. A bridge crane arrangement as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe slide
surface is formed of tape having sliding characteristics, and having a core
structure
on top of which the slide surface is arranged.
3. A bridge crane arrangement as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe slide
surface is formed of a sprayable substance comprising sliding characteristics,

7
which has been sprayed, painted, or coated on the top surface of the support
plat-
form and/or on the bottom surface of the bottom flange of the main girder.
4. A bridge crane arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slide
surface is adapted on a substantially horizontal plane.
5. A bridge crane arrangement as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe re-
stricting means comprise raising elements installed on the top surface of the
sup-
port platform on both sides of the bottom flange of the main girder, and cover
parts
connected to the raising elements and extending on top of the bottom flange.
6. A bridge crane arrangement as claimed in claim 5, whereinthe raising
elements and cover parts are separate pieces.
7. A bridge crane arrangement as claimed in claim 6, wherein the raising
parts are formed of a plurality of superimposed plates.
8. A bridge crane arrangement as claimed in claim 5, wherein the raising
parts and cover parts are integrated into a uniform structure.

Description

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Bridge crane arrangement
Background of the invention
The invention relates to a bridge crane arrangement which comprises
at least one main girder for a trolley, the main girder having a longitudinal
central
web which has at least one web plate, and a longitudinal bottom flange
arranged in
the bottom part of the central web and protruding from the central web onto
both
sides thereof; end girders which are adapted to support opposite ends of the
main
girder; wheels which are arranged to the end girders and intended to move the
crane arrangement along substantially parallel guides which are transverse in
re-
in lation to the main girder and thus to support the entire crane
arrangement; slide
means arranged between an end girder on at least one side and the
corresponding
end of the main girder, the slide means allowing the movement of the end
girder in
question in relation to the main girder in at least its longitudinal direction
and the
rotation of the end girder and main girder in relation to each other; and
restricting
means to restrict the movements between the end girder in question on one side
and the main girder.
It is very common when it comes to bridge cranes that there exist the
following conditions and situations that cause problems: Either or both of the
crane
guides, such as rails, may be curvy and therefore at the extreme limits of the
al-
lowed tolerances or even exceeding them. The distance between the rails may be
undefined or varying, in particular in outdoor tracks or tracks arranged in
halls that
have a flexible frame structure. The distance between the crane tracks may
change
as a result of changes in the temperature, particularly as concerns outdoor
cranes.
The crane may have to be manufactured under such conditions in which the align-
ment of the bearing wheels cannot be guaranteed to be within tolerances.
For the aforementioned reasons, the travel of the crane may be difficult
while the wear and tear on the wheels and rails is intense. To eliminate the
prob-
lems that wear and tear on the rails cause, the need exists to keep the
requirements
for accuracy of manufacture high, which raises the costs considerably. Precise
alignment of the rails, which reduces the wear and tear on the rails,
increases the
costs even more. In addition, a particular problem is caused by the drive
means of
the crane and their controls, which affects how straight the crane moves in
various
situations. In such a case, deflected movement may cause extensive problems.
A prior art bridge crane arrangement is described in publication EP
0960 848 B 1. The slide means of the slide joint described in it comprise a
slide
plate arrangement installed on a top surface of an end girder and a bottom
surface

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of the main girder, and having, as restricting means, a pin and slot
arrangement
extending inside the main girder. This solves the above problems rather well,
but
the drawback is its high cost, which has prevented its extensive application
in the
joint in question.
Summary of the invention
The goal of the invention is to develop the bridge crane arrangement in
question so that the aforementioned drawbacks may be solved with lower manu-
facturing costs. This goal is achieved with the bridge crane arrangement
according
to the invention, which is characterised in that there is arranged, on the top
surface
of the end girder in question, a support platform wider than the bottom
flange, in
that the slide means comprise a slide surface arranged on the top surface of
the
support platform and/or the bottom surface of the bottom flange of the main
girder, and in that restricting means are arranged to the support platform on
both
sides of the bottom flange of the main girder, outside the main girder.
Preferred
embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims.
The invention is thus based on a slide joint far simpler than previously,
consisting of a slide surface arrangement between the support platform and
main
girder and restricting means which are arranged on the support platform and
sep-
arate from the main girder. This also allows the problems caused by tolerances
on
the length of the main girder to be reduced.
This slide joint is possible to implement afterwards on existing bridge
cranes. Because the forming of slide surfaces does not much increase the
height of
the end on the side of the flexible joint of the crane, there will be no need
for
changes for the structure on the side of the fixed support on the opposite
side of
the crane. In addition, when all the means restricting the movement of the
main
girder are placed on the outside of the main girder, no changes will be
required on
the main girder, either.
All the parts that the slide joint needs are simple, so their manufacture
is easy in a number of ways, such as laser cutting, which at the same time
results in
economical manufacturing costs. Similarly, installing a joint consisting of
such
parts is simple.
Insofar as the length of the main girder is concerned, a slightly longer
main girder may be allowed, because the main girder may exceed past the joint.
In
practice, the exceeding is limited by the walls or support pillars of a
building. Due
to the exceeding, it is in most cases possible to use main girder parts of the
same
length without needing to cut them.

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List of figures
The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 shows a bridge crane arrangement provided with one main
girder as seen from below the guides intended for its movement;
Figure 2 shows an advantageous inventive slide joint of a bridge crane
arrangement, as seen in the longitudinal direction of the main girder; and
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the slide joint of Figure 2.
Detailed description of the invention
With reference to Figure 1, there is shown the bridge crane arrange-
ment according to the invention, which comprises a main girder 1, a trolley 2
mov-
ing on the main girder 1 or at least one hoisting apparatus (not shown)
fixedly on
it, end girders 3, 4 arranged on opposite ends of the main girder 1 and
supporting
the main girder 1, and wheels 5 arranged to the end girders, the wheels being
in-
tended to move along guides, such as rails 6 and 7, which are substantially
parallel
to the end girders 3 and 4 and, on the other hand, transverse in relation to
the main
girder 1, and thus to support the entire crane on said rails.
The main girder 1 has a longitudinal central web, which in this case has
two web plates la at a distance from each other, and a longitudinal bottom
flange
lb arranged in the bottom part of the central web and protruding from the
central
web on both sides thereof. The central web may also be a single plate one or
of a
profile type. This flange structure, typical for main girders, may be used to
support
the wheels (not shown) of the trolley 2 and thus to support the entire trolley
2 and
a load fastened to it.
Between the end girder 4 on one side and the corresponding end 9 of
the main girder 1, slide means are arranged, allowing the movement of the end
girder 4 in question in relation to the main girder 1 in the longitudinal
direction
thereof, rotation of the end girder 4 in question and main girder 1 in
relation to
each other, as well as a small movement in the direction of the rail 7, as
well as
restricting means to restrict the movements between this end girder 4 on one
side
and the main girder 1. The second end 8 of the main girder 1 is, in turn,
connected
to a second end girder 3 by a normal, rigid joint controlling the crane, but
if need
be, it may also be arranged to slide as described in the above.

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In accordance with Figures 2 and 3, there is arranged, on the top surface
of the end girder 4, a support platform 10 wider than the bottom flange lb,
whereby the slide means comprise a slide surface 11 arranged on the top
surface
of the support platform 10 and/or the bottom surface of the bottom flange lb
of
the main girder, and whereby restricting means, described below, are installed
to
the support platform 10 on both sides of the bottom flange lb of the main
girder,
outside the main girder 1. The support platform 10 may also be a plate welded
to
the end girders.
The support platform 10 may also have been formed of different two
in plates so that it has a raised surface, preferably on the centre part.
The slide surface
11 is in this case installed on top of said centre part. The raised portion
may be
accomplished in a number of ways, for example by milling the edge portions, or
welding two superimposed plates of different sizes to each other, etc. So, the
sup-
port platform may have a horizontal surface at two levels. Bolts 14 to be
fixed pen-
etrate the support platform 10 in the edge area having the lower level of the
sup-
port platform 10, and the main girder rests on the upper level.
The slide surface 11 may be formed of tape having sliding characteris-
tics, and having a core on top of which the slide surface 11 is arranged. The
slide
surface 11 may also be formed of a sprayable substance comprising sliding
charac-
teristics, which has been sprayed, painted, or coated on the top surface of
the sup-
port platform 10 and/or on the bottom surface of the bottom flange lb of the
main
girder, without a separate core. The maximum thickness of the slide surface is
ad-
vantageously in the 3 to 5 mm range.
The restricting means comprise raising elements 12 installed on the top
surface of the support platform 10 on both sides of the bottom flange lb of
the main
girder 1, and cover parts 13 connected to the raising elements and extending
on
top of the bottom flange lb. Between the bottom flange lb and cover parts 13 a
vertical gap may remain.
The raising elements 12 and cover parts 13 may be separate pieces, and
the raising parts 12 may be formed of several plates one on top of the other.
The
raising elements 12 and cover part 13 may also be integrated into a uniform
struc-
ture.
Between the side edges of the bottom flange lb of the raising elements
12, a clearance has to be left which allows the main girder 1 to move in the
longi-
tudinal direction and the rotation of the main girder 1, within certain
limits, in re-
lation to the vertical axis of the end girder 4. The adapter between the
bottom

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flange lb of the cover parts 13 only needs to allow the aforementioned
sliding. The
purpose of the cover parts 13 is to prevent the main girder 1 from swaying
around
the longitudinal axis of the main girder. The shape of the raising elements 12
and
cover parts 13 is not limited to the examples set forth, because the main
issue is
that they allow the aforementioned movement within the limits set for them.
The support platform 10 may be similar to the support platform for the
rigid support on the end girder 3 on the other side, whereby the raising
elements
12 and cover parts 13 may be fixed to he support platform 10 with bolts 14 and
nuts 15 which are typically also used in the rigid support.
The above description of the invention is only intended to illustrate the
implementation of the invention. A person skilled in the art may, however,
imple-
ment its details within the scope of the attached claims. The invention is
therefore
suitable for use on a bridge crane comprising a plurality of main girders. In
such a
case, all the flexible joints must obviously be located on the same side of
the crane,
unless both sides are flexible.

Representative Drawing